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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Nia's 4th Birthday Recap (Picture Heavy!)

With Nia starting school, I wanted to go back and finally recap a big event this summer: her 4th birthday party!

We celebrated last month at a local park that has amazing city views - it was Nia's request and very fitting for her last birthday party here in Jersey City. It's amazed me as she's come to know each park by name (including Central Park!) and makes specific requests to visit certain ones. It really is cute to see little ones grow and offer their thoughts and opinions (and boy, does Nia have opinions!).

This year felt the easiest for me to plan. I've never been a complicated birthday planner. I don't have elaborate themes or anything - I just want to keep things simple. The past couple years we ordered subs and last year I realized how messy it was especially for the kids so this year I went with pizza which was delivered from a spot adjacent to the park. It was SO good that everyone kept asking about it. I guess Yelp reviews don't lie! Besides that we had a loose Frozen theme with all things Frozen provided by my parents (I can't believe my mom tracked down Frozen underwear!). Of course we had to have a Frozen cake courtesy of Dairy Queen although there was a bit of a preschooler battle over who would get to eat Elsa and Anna (kinda creepy when you think about it).

My sister-in-law meeting Grayson!

The Grandfathers

Retrieval from the splash pad was no easy task! Thanks Mom for cautiously stepping up to the challenge ;-)

Between eating, the kids ran around playing on the playground, splash pad and sandbox - a perfect trifecta of fun! While I was trying my best to keep Grayson out of the son and from being poked too much (he hadn't had his vaccinations yet), my artistic sister Lauren stepped up and took pictures for us. I'm also happy I remembered to have someone (Dad I think?) capture everyone singing Happy Birthday (you can watch it here!).

An actual frozen "Frozen" cake that *had* to be completely consumed lest it melt. Hooray for seconds! #bestdecisionever

Nia's big present was her princess bike. We didn't bring it to the park, but yes, it has training wheels, and we took it to Taste of Africa over the weekend (recap coming!) - a really loooong journey with a 4 year old and a bike via public transit - and she fared well. I'm still not a fan of the tippy nature of training wheels (#teambalancebike), and I'm hoping next summer we can take them off.

Her favorite cousin!

The funniest part of Nia turning 4 is that she's been telling everyone, "I'm 4 today!" which causes them to believe it's her birthday TODAY. I then have to explain that no, today isn't her birthday. I've tried telling her she's 4 every day until she turns 5 and instead to just say, "I'm 4" or "I just turned 4," but she won't cause she's Nia. We have a loooong year ahead of us...

Thank you Aunty Lauren for taking pics!

What's your favorite way to celebrate your kid's birthday? Do you plan it yourself or have it at a venue that handles everything (something I see in my future!)?

P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with a special review of something from ALEX Toys that made Nia's birthday extra fun!